Ravenously hungry in the middle of the night.
#370342 - 10/01/13 09:28 AM
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Hi,
I wake up in the middle of the night ravenously hungry and shaking.
In the daytime I have to eat every 2 hours which is ok in the daytime but not at night.
I am 5'4'' and now weigh 110 lbs.All my bones show and I look emaciated. I lost so much weight from the D. I was also going to a Chinese acpuncturist who had me take all fish, chicken, any meat out of my diet. He put me on a high vegetable and rice diet which I now know the insoluble fiber was not good. I ended up at the hospital and was lucky enough to get a doctor who understood IBS. She put me on metamucil and told me I had to go onto a high protein diet. A friend told me about Heather. I bought both books and have implemented the elimination diet.
I had become very phobic about eating anything. Basically all I was eating was potatoes, sweet potatoes and squash with the ocassional bits of avacado.
Now I have been on Heather's plan for 2 weeks. I am eating:
Rice
chicken breasts
turkey breasts
some egg whites
Almond flour
almond milk
potatoes
sweet potatoes
squash
green beans
bananas
I have mostly integrated tofu although it took awhile to get past the gas factor.
I have had no more D but am still quite anxious but hopeful.
When the hunger hits it is instant. I don't go out because I am concerned it could happen in public and it makes me quite dizzy although every day on Heather's plan I get better. I have even gained 1 pound so I am very happy with that.
When I wake up in the middle of the night I can't go back to sleep so that makes me really tired in the daytime. The doctor told me it would go away once I put some weight back on so I am trying very hard to eat every 2 hours and gain some weight.
I wish I could eat some kind of bread but at this point all baked goods seem to cause problems.
Any advice on what to eat to sleep through would be helpful.
IBS-D, gluten allergy and flour sensitive. So far the only grain I am able to eat is rice, although still have terrible gas from even rice flour so I have been very fearful of any eating baked goods.
Edited by CynthiaS (10/01/13 09:32 AM)
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Eat something.
#370343 - 10/01/13 09:56 AM
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Sassie
Reged: 07/02/13
Posts: 188
Loc: The Netherlands, Europe
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It looks like you're doing better the last few weeks. If you're so hungry at night, and you know it is a strange time in your life, your weight is too low, well how about taking a banana when you wake up? I saw that you eat that at the moment.
Normally I wouldn't eat at night, but you know you're busy getting better. So, listen to your body. When you have a normal weight, you won't wake up at night anymore.
Good luck!
Saskia
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Hi Sassie,
Thank you so much for your fast reply. I really appreciate it. You give me hope.
In the daytime I am having problems getting 1500 calories a day. I know I need 2000 to start storing. I believe my body burns through everything I am putting in with almost nothing to store. I am not a diabetic but I do know my blood sugar is dropping when I get that hungry at night.
If I do too much in the daytime it is much worse at night. Sometimes I can sleep until 8 and have no problems. Very frustrating.
I am pushing myself every day to eat more and hopefully soon be able to eat some IBS recipes for bread. I ate some white rice pasta today for the first time in 6 months. So far so good. That will help a lot if it plays nice with my body and I can eat pasta and noodles.
Do you think a banana will be enough at night or do I need a protein with it.
I keep trying to figure out if I need a combination of foods or basically the sugar. I know you are not a doctor and we all have to "try it and see" but I so appreciate your initial response.
This forum and Heather's work is such a blessing.
Thanks you so much for your kindness.
Cheerio
CynthiaS
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You're welcome.
I guess if you have no further medical problems like diabetic conditions or something you shouldn't worry about Sugar or proteins. Especially during night. Your body wants to sleep. So I guess if you can sleep after having something you did eat it is okay. Don't think to far ahead. First thing for you is to get a normal weight and normal sleep. I am sure you will be feeling better within 2 or 3 weeks if you can eat and sleep better.
Don't give up and listen to your body at this moment. It is not feeling very well so get your sleep when needed and eat something if you need it.
Good luck.
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Hi Sassie,
Thanks you so much for your support.
Cheerio
CynthiaS
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Hi,
Thanks again Sassie for your help.
Once I understood from your post that what my body truly needed was the sleep I had a better understanding. Instead of trying to do protein,sugar etc. I just concentrated on coming up with something soothing that would also have enough calories to get me longer sleep times.
I have not been able to eat anything with flour for over 1 year. I lot all of my weight because I became so terrified of eating anything that might trigger the D that i was eating almost nothing..
From studying the posts and since I am able to eat white rice I decided to try making some simple white rice flour banana muffins.
I followed Heather's instructions of introducing new foods slowly. After taking some fiber I added small portions (about a tablespoon) of the muffins crumbled into the rice. I knew it might give me some gas but I persisted and had no other problems.
In the evening I made a bowl of warm white rice with a small amount of Almond milk and banana. I ate about 1/4 of the muffin (they are quite small).Although I had tried the rice mixture before it was never strong enough to stop the blood sugar drops.
This time when I woke up at 3:30 am, I was ravenously hungry but no low blood sugar drop. I ate some of the rice mixture and another 1/4 of the muffin. I was able to go immediately back to sleep and did not have that awful sick feeling in the morning of no sleep.
I thank Heather for being so wonderfully clear on how to re-introduce new foods to our bodies and Sassie for being so kind and clear as to what she felt my body really wanted and encouraging me in another post to try some new things.
I am really glad to have muffins back in my life.
Cheerio
CynthiaS
IBS-D,Gas,gluten allergy and flour sensitive. So far the only grain I am able to eat is rice.
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That's great to read. I know how it feels if you're scared for the D attacks. I always had an extra set of clothes with me When going outside. At work, an extra set of clothes.. Being affraid going out and not knowing where the toilets are.. at restaurants getting stressed out if there was only one toilet.. not eating before going to a concert etc. Since I follow this diet, having the acacia fibre and listen to the hypnose cd's for ibs it's going so much better. I can eat a lot again. I've been to a concert without problems and I did had diner befor.. no extra sets of clothes.. and yes, I can almost eat anything, but no dairy and I have to watch out for too much fat.
Just keep on going, keep on trying things out.. don't worry too much if you have a D attack, it can happen to everyone now and then.. and your body needs to get used to a normal way of eating again.
Like I said, keep listening to your body and have fun by discovering food again.
Sorry for any mistakes in my english, it's not my 1st language and I am a little tired.. 
Good luck.
Saskia
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